When I was a baby, my mother tried to feed me weet-bix and milk – which ended up on the floor and the bowl upturned on my head! So started an exploration for my mother to find foods that I would eat. Foods like avocado, apples, capsicum/peppers, vegetables, fish and lamb were welcomed in my little body.
Then came school and the ‘ease’ of sandwiches for my single mum that started my bread-eating and the poisoning of my body with gluten and sugar.
In my late teens I started my career in television/film/advertising – I worked and played hard.
By my early twenties I was struggling with constipation, piles, bloating, skin irritations and carrying too much weight. This was due to alcohol, bread, pizza, pasta, ice-cream, cakes, chocolate and biscuits – foods considered normal in the shopping basket.
My body was in extreme distress and by my late twenties had to have an operation to fix an anal fissure, caused by the poison of gluten, yeast and sugar in my body. The irony of that was that the surgeon said to eat bran flakes to keep me ‘regular’ – the worst possible thing for my body.
By my early thirties, I had not changed my diet and was obese, severely constipated, nauseous most of the time and exhausted.
I sought support with colonic irrigation/hydration and during this process it was suggested I get tested for candida. When the test returned with extremely high levels of candida, and a caution for diabetes, the doctor recommended a three month abstinence from gluten, dairy, alcohol, yeast/mushrooms and especially sugar.
My health improved dramatically, as did my clarity, focus and vitality – that was 2004.
The vitality I began to feel was supported tangible and the combination of my growing self-love supported the change to my eating and I have been exploring food and recipes ever since.
I have gradually lost about 15 kilos and went from a size 18 (UK) to size 8 over ten years – my exercise is walking, swimming laps and weights at the gym. I’ve been going to the gym for just over a year now and am really enjoying the program devised for my by the instructors. I prefer to exercise slowly with resistance and add weight when I feel I need it. And for the first time ever, I can say with all truth that I really love going to the gym – who knew?!
I’ve also noticed that changing my diet has supported my emotional healing from childhood issues. Allowing my body to remain clear has allowed issues to be felt and cleared without the numbing effect that some foods can have on me.
My career has reflected back the change in me and I am now a sought-after senior manager within the industry and feel confident, relaxed and bounding with vitality every day.
It’s easier and simpler than you think to eat well and work in a corporate environment – the practice is to love yourself more than the cravings
I am still learning every day what and how much feels right for me to eat and know that if I listen to my body, it’s usually spot on!
My intention for this blog is to give ideas and inspiration to other lovers of food to know that there is another way to eat that will build Love in our bodies and live with vitality and harmony
with love, Sarah
Healthy Cooking for Beginners - Heal Yourself With Food 
Hi Sarah, This is awesome, thanks for sharing what you have learnt. With love Jennene
Hi Sarah, this is fabulous. Awesome inspiration.
with love, Victoria
Thanks for sharing Sarah. My story is similar. I was a huge dairy eater from childhood and addicted to chocolate through my teens and so on. I suffered from a runny nose (my mother would constantly tell me to blow my nose as I would always be sniffing), blocked sinuses, painful acne, foggy brain, coated tongue in the mornings, hypoglaecemia (I would be vague, dizzy and my hands would shake making daily life hard work), cronic tonsilitis – I always felt tired and tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears).
I started to take gluten out of my diet about 5 years ago when I heard a friend was doing it to lose weight, I was overweight so I felt to try it. I realise now looking back that alcohol naturally followed as I became more aware of my body. Then the affect of dairy on my body was really apparent. It was around this time I started to attend presentations by Serge Benhayon. He spoke often about dairy and gluten and feeling the affects they have on the body. I realized feeling my own body after taking these foods out of my diet how dull I had felt my whole life and what Serge was presenting was true. I had a long period of feeling tired as my body was clearing itself of those foods. All my symptoms have gone, except the tinnitus, I feel it is helping clear my body from the dairy I ate all those years. I feel much lighter, more myself and more aware of my feelings these days and am able to observe my emotions rather than getting carried away with them.
Love
Erin
Hi Sarah, This is awesome, and reading it I’ve realised how much my own journey with food has been a gradual process of dropping wheat, dairy and then gluten and as a result how differently I feel now in my body and in my life. And how much I’d forgotten about that journey, funny isn’t it that it’s now so normal and yet it’s only been 6 years – wow. So thanks for the beautiful reflection and reminder. with Love Monica
thank you for sharing – very inspiring, and much that resonates with my own journey with food in that dairy gave me sinus, wheat and gluten made me sleepy, and, alcohol made me feel very ill (even a mouthful)… coffee gave me palpitations… so there is much we can learn from food, and how it can harm or heal us…
Great inspiration Sarah! Thanks for following your impulse to share!
Awesome, Sarah, – thank you for the loving inspiration.
Sarah, you are an Angel and it’s easy to prove it without any science – there is a halo around your head on the photo! Go lady, go with chilly, with fire;)), Lots of Love, D
Hi Sarah, that’s very inspiring. I loved what you shared about learning what and how much feels right to eat and the fact that the body always have the spot on answer. It’s amazing how much we can deepen on our relationship with food – from gluten free/dairy free/wheat free to choosing what to eat, when to eat and the amount that is going to be nourishing, loving and supporting. I find relationship with food fascinating as it reveals a lot about how I am feeling, from being inspired to cook, choosing & preparing the food, setting up the table & the eating part itself. With Love, Priscila
Wow ! Thank you for sharing your amazing journey.
Gone full circle returning to what you felt your body could tolerate as a baby
Beauti-full!
With love
Anne-Marie
Awesome and very inspiring, thank you for sharing xx
Sarah, I love that you’ve shared this. There must be so many others that recognize elements from your story, very inspiring. I’ve also found that what I eat and drink has a major effect on how I feel both immediately and over a period of time. I have loved playing and experimenting with it and getting to know what works and supports me and what also makes me feel less. It is my own lab and my own science that I’m exploring 🙂 . I love cooking so the recipes shares are great fun…scrumptious!
Dear Sarah,
I feel so thankful to have found your website, just what i needed. I can really do with some yummie recipes at the moment. Yes, it is quite a journey and i am still learning every day from the things i eat and how my body reacts. For a long time i thought it was normal to have a bloated stomach…..
I have just added your site to my favorites and i will be making one of your recipes today.
With love,
Mariette Reineke
Holland
Dear Sarah,
Its mariette again. I just have a question. I have left vinegar since some time now and i am wondering if you can buy sundried tomatoes without vinegar…I really like them but i have not found them here in Amsterdam….
With love,
Mariette
Hello Mariette
You can buy them just in olive oil – try your deli.
You could try making your own – I will post the recipe now 🙂
Have fun playing with the different flavours too!
with love, Sarah
this blog just gets better and better! THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS FOR ALL OF US. XXXXX
Hallo Sarah,
l have just read this article, as well as the comments on the blog, and l remember you saying that bread, pasta, ect are not good for the body, although l don`t agree with that, l think it`s more a question of everything in moderation. But when l read this
“By my early twenties I was struggling with constipation, piles, bloating, skin irritations and carrying too much weight. This was due to alcohol, bread, pizza, pasta, ice-cream, cakes, chocolate and biscuits – foods considered normal in the shopping basket” then l realised the reason why!! Obviously you were, at that time, eating far too much of the ” bad” stuff, and l put that in inverted commas because A, many things are only bad if we eat too much of them, and B, pizzas, ice cream and the like, especially ice cream, are very high in fat, and too much cake or biscuits are not good either.
When l have, on occassions, eaten these things, l too feel bloated and lethargic and don`t look my best either.
But, if l simply eat bread, 4 slices a day, or a moderate amount of potatoes or pasta, l feel fine, it`s the other things added on which do me no good, but l`m glad you`ve now got a diet that suits you, and l will certainly have a look at some of the recipes on the site.
With kind regards,
Karen.
Hi Karen, thanks for reading and responding. Enjoy the recipes! Sarah
Hallo again Sarah,
l`ve just noticed that other people on here haven`t received a reply, or if they have l can`t see it! ls that something to do with my browser, or is it so constructed that we can only see our own replies?
Not sure! I reply to people if it feels right and that means most!
l like that reply, it shows you go by your intuition and have empathy, always a good thing! Enjoy your day.
It’s great that you are getting thoughts from this paragraph as well as from our argument made at this place.
I was recommended this web site by my cousin. I am not sure
whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem.
You’re amazing! Thanks!
Hi there, thanks for your message. We are noticing that there are a growing number of people who are feeling the same as you. My journey with food seems to be common to many people. Enjoy the recipes and blogs! With love, Sarah
Hi Sarah,
You look better than you did in your Kadina days !! Well done on your journey. Love your inspiring recipes. Erin B ( Goonellabah)
Hi Erin, thank you for your lovely comment! Hope you enjoy the recipes and I would love to see you again after so long! with love Sarah
Awesome Sara! Loving Ourselves More than the Craving Hmmm – how many other areas of our life does this apply? Many!
Hi Sarah, stumbled across your site by accident (or maybe good luck)..well done ,I think your insight is great & will be of help to all of us ,if not for just making us each aware of our own intake. Certainly makes me rethink my food choices.
Cheers ! from Victoria BC – Les
Hi Les – no coincidence you’ve found this page and thank you so much for your comments. It’s great to be able to share my experience and that you have been inspired to rethink your choices. Awesome! Hope you enjoy and explore the recipes too. with love, Sarah
Amazing Sarah! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Sarah – amazing that I found you today. I was diagnosed in 2004 with Candida overgrowth and severe health issues not much different that what you have shared. I cleared up and then went back to eating as I wish. While weight hasn’t been my biggest issue, the condition of my body has deteriorated. So many other health problems have crept in. Thank you for giving me (us all) tasty options. It is especially helpful during the initial stages of change…. never an easy time, but definitely gets better as one goes along. Here’s to life and feeling great!!
Susan
Thanks for your message Susan. I feel really amazing today and I learn more about how I use food to not deepen the connection to myself as a woman. Food is such a trap to keep us from ourselves. Consider that when we think we are ‘fixed’ and then return to our old ways it could make it worse – that’s what happened to me. Every time I eat something that I know harms me, I pay for it. Message me if you need any support. with love, Sarah
Hey Sarah, I’d love to connect with you. What’s your email address? or feel free to email me at info.at.wellsome.com
Thanks Jema 🙂 Love your website!
Hi Jema, I just noticed that I hadn’t replied to this message! My email is healyourselfwithfood@gmail.com
With love, Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Feeling completely inspired to cook more with all your amazing loving ways in what you post and how you present. Thank you for shining your awesomeness for all of humanity to feel and see.
With love,
Kristen
Wow, I was just diagnosed my by doctor with allergies to gluten and yeast and have been put on a path to finally be kind to my body by changing my eating habits. I too work in a corporate environment and am a work hard play hard individual who has not been kind to her body. I work out 4-5 times a week but have lost nothing. I actually have gained weight again.
This journey will have me and my family reinventing ourselves and the way we live. I can’t thank you enough for posting your blog. I was honestly overwhelmed and not sure to start. I just launched a search in Google and found you…
Here’s to my first step in the right direction.
Jackie
Hi Jackie, thanks for your note! The crazy thing is that I didn’t really understand how sick I was until now, years later, that I am feeling so lovely in my body, so well and lots of vitality. I was stuck in a way of living that was self-abusive but it was a gradual decline that I didn’t really notice till I was sick! I’m always here if you ever need any support 🙂 I can also make up a menu plan and give you tips for the whole family if needed – just ping me a message. Love, Sarah
PS, just wondering what you searched for in Google?
Thank you Sarah for sharing your beauty, your path and these playful recipes.All of it inspires me to be more aware of the way I choose what and when I eat.
With love Nadia